P-04-519 Abolition of Park Homes Sales Commission, Correspondence from the Petitioner to the Committee, 31.05.17

Dear Graham,

sorry to be a bit tardy in replying, my Husband and I have been away on a short break.

Bob and I have a few comments to make:

Firstly we are pleased with the focus that the questionnaire puts onto the park owners to provide financial evidence and transparency.

We are concerned however with page 7 of the the forward to the questionnaire, under the heading "Where are we now?" which  in para: 3 states that "Park owners may seek to replace the lost income by increasing the pitch fees" and the statement " There is also a risk that the park owner may decide to close the park entirely. This would result in residents having to find alternative parks to relocate their homes on, or potentially put them at risk of homelessness.  Hence it is important to understand the implications of any change to the commission rate on all parties before taking action"

We feel that this inclusion is unecessary and misguided and may scare many residents influencing their responses. This would not be allowed, a park cannot just be closed down.  If the local authority granted change of use of that land the residents would have to be housed in equivalent accomodation and no local authority would do this.  If for any reason a park owner decided to close the park the Local authority would then take over the responsibility which would earn them additional welcome income.

We can only reiterate the comments that we have previously sent to you but we would like to add that the removal of the commission charge should have a positive effect in that it would encourage more prospective park home buyers and therefore benefit the park owner in the long run. Many prospective buyers are put off when they realise that they have to lose 10% of the value if they sell their property, this may also help ease the problem of housing availability.

Yours sincerely

Sue and Bob

Caerwnon Park Residents Association